Few political extortions that have been successful can compare to the one that occurred in Munich more than 80 years ago.
The German chancellor consented to a meeting with British Prime Minister Neville Chamberlain on September 29, 1938, two days before Hitler set a deadline for invading Czechoslovakia. They agreed to a “nonnaggression” pact in the Bavarian capital, giving Hitler the region without first consulting the Czechs.
Hitler was able to obtain something that wasn’t his (a portion of a neighboring country) by promising to give up something that wasn’t his (the territory of other neighboring nations, which he agreed not to invade).
Nazi Germany broke the deal eleven months later, invaded Poland, and started the Second World War.
By using claims to things that aren’t his (America’s national secrets) against something that isn’t his, former president Donald J. Trump is imitating Munich (the public order, which he threatens to overturn).
